Thanksgiving
by Grykon
Summary: AU 37.002 A one shot Thanksgiving story following Graduation, please read it before reading this. I make no claims to ownership of the characters contained herein or anything related to the premise of the Scorpion TV show. This is completely unofficial and this story idea is solely of my own mind.


The cell door opened and a guard escorted Collins in shackles into the room. "Well, well, if it isn't the fed and the motorcycle mechanic. To what do I owe the dubious honor?" Collins asked.

The guard thrust him hard into the chair and then locked his hands into the restraint on the table as Collins gave him a dirty look.

"I wanted to know when you did that to Toby and why." Happy said quietly to him.

Collins laughed, "You already know when it happened."

"The night he was supposedly hit by the bicyclist," Happy said.

"Bingo, it was simple to jack him getting out of his car to go in and get that pizza. A few specially prepared drugs and he was out like a light. A simple incision at the base of his skull disguised as a cut from the bicycle crash. Special neuro-fiber optics that I later controlled through the interface to attach to his brain, gave me almost absolute control of him and what he did." Collins told her.

"But why would you do that?" Happy asked in a small voice.

"Because I hate the insufferable buffoon, almost as much as I hate Walter. I wanted Walter to suffer far greater pain. Destroying Scorpion, turning all of you against him was child's play. Using Toby to maintain that animosity against him, to tell you the truth I couldn't believe it worked as well as it did for as long as it did. I really figured one of you would have figured out something was wrong before the first year was over. But you guys were only too happy relish in that hatred. Once the program realized you guys were on to something it stepped it up to destroy your new company and then if everything was to work out right to frame Walter for murdering Toby. Oh I wish that had worked. But knowing Toby will spend the rest of his life a vegetable will just have to be enough joy to last me."

Happy looked at him, "But he isn't a vegetable, Walter realized something was wrong and destroyed your interface before it could fry Toby's mind. And thanks to Walter he is getting better and stronger every day."

Collins grimaced, "Well then I guess I just have to rejoice in the memories of making love with you."

Happy's eyes shot opened, "Say what? Are you crazy? We never made love."

Collins laughed, "Call up your home security feed from two nights following the 'bicycle accident' if you still have it. You'll see a powder blue van parked by the tree next to your property. I was in that van that night and the next three nights that followed. My interface allowed me to initiate and participate in sex with you all four nights. Sadly that part of the interface burnt out."

Happy jumped up and grabbed Collins by the throat and the guard and Cabe pulled her off him. "If you ever get released from this place I will hunt you down and kill you Collins."

Collins laughed as another guard came in and took him away. The guard holding Happy grabbed her arm and slapped a cuff on it. "Whoa, what do you think you're doing?" Cabe demanded.

"She attacked a prisoner; I'm taking her into custody." The guard told him.

"Like hell you are, my badge is bigger than any badge in this place. Now take that cuff off my girl." Cabe demanded flashing his badge in the guard's face.

The guard reluctantly removed the cuff and left the room. Happy held onto Cabe and cried. "Cabe, even if Toby was to recover completely, how do I get past what he just said?" Happy asked.

"I don't know sweetheart, I honestly don't, just try and believe he was lying." Cabe told her as they left the cell.

* * *

Three months later:

"S-s-scorpion Ho!" Toby cried out as he entered the Garage for the first time in almost four years.

Sylvester looked up from his desk and saw Toby standing there, Happy next to him holding onto a gait belt around his waste. He grinned and jumped up from his desk and rushed over, "Toby, Happy Thanksgiving buddy! It's so very good seeing you." Toby and Sylvester hugged as Paige came around the corner from the kitchen.

"Toby," Paige exclaimed and moved quickly over to greet him. Toby smiled at Paige as she moved closer.

Sylvester moved over out of the way and hugged Happy.

"It's so good to see you Toby, how are you doing?" Paige said as they hugged.

"It's-s good to s-s-see you too Paige, thank you for the invitation." Toby told her

"You're always welcome here Toby, Happy Thanksgiving, Happy treating you good?" Paige said with a smile to Happy.

Toby grinned and put his left arm around Happy's shoulders, "The best."

"Walter and Ralph will be back in a few, I forgot a couple of things at the store. Would you like to sit on the couch? Or maybe come into the kitchen while I finish cooking?" Paige asked.

Toby looked at Happy, "It's up to you." Happy told him with a smile.

"I'll go s-s-sit with S-s-sylvester." Toby finally decided.

"Of course buddy," Sylvester said and took over holding onto the gait belt and walked with him over to his desk and helped him to sit down. Sylvester asked, "Have you read the latest Super Fun Guy?"

Toby grinned and shook his head so Sylvester grabbed the latest comic and pulled his chair over next to him and they started reading the comic together.

Paige hugged Happy, "He seems to be doing a lot better. What are the Drs saying?"

Happy followed her back to the kitchen area, "They're still not sure how much more he is going to recover. They are completely baffled by how far he has come; Dr Rizzuto still chalks it up to Walter's formula that he ever got out of the wheelchair."

"Oh, speaking of which, Walter and Ralph have been working on a new formulation, they think they have isolated a new process that will help rebuild damaged neuro connections not just replace them." She said with a smile and then frowned, "Oh, maybe I shouldn't have spoiled the reveal."

Happy smiled, "Thank you, I'll just act surprised if they bring it up."

"Hey family," Cabe called as he entered the Garage behind Allie.

"Hey Cabe, Happy Thanksgiving," Sylvester shouted from his desk.

"Do my eyes deceive me? Is that a Dr Tobias Curtis over there?" Cabe said as he pulled off his sunglasses.

Toby turned and looked back with a big grin, "Hey Cabe! Happy Thanks-s-sgiving."

Cabe walked over and took his hand and leaned down and hugged him, "Happy Thanksgiving Doc, it's good to see you."

Toby smiled and pointed at the comic, "S-s-super Fun Guy?"

Cabe smiled, "You guys go ahead and enjoy yourselves, I'm going to help the ladies in the kitchen if you don't mind."

Toby just shook his head no.

"Hey Allie, Cabe, Happy Thanksgiving," Paige said.

"Happy Thanksgiving," Allie said as she handed Paige her Chia seed casserole.

Cabe walked in and hugged Happy, "I'm glad Doc is looking a lot better."

Happy nodded, "I'm so glad they finally gave us permission for him to come home. The round the clock care while expensive is still cheaper than that place plus I don't feel as exhausted having to run back and forth all the time."

"He's back home now? When did that happen?" Paige asked.

"Monday, took a few weeks to set up the nurses but the last piece was finally in place Monday morning and I brought him home." Happy told them.

"I'm so glad to hear that, why didn't you say anything when we were there Friday?" Paige put the casserole in the second oven.

"I didn't want to jinx it. Hey, thanks for having this down here instead of in the loft." Happy replied.

"Of course Happy, I didn't think it would be too safe to try and get Toby upstairs even with the ramp and it would have been pretty rude to invite him and then expect him to stay down here while we're all up there." Paige told her.

"When did you get this oven?" Allie stepped up to it and marveled at it.

Paige laughed, "It's the new oven for the loft but with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up I just told Walter let's put it down here since it has multiple ovens and temperature controls. I think I am just going to leave it down here and get rid of this one." She pointed at the old oven.

"Oh Cabe, isn't it gorgeous?" Allie rubbed her hand down the side of it and looked back at Cabe. "We need one of these."

Cabe said theatrically, "Oh brother."

They all laughed.

"Oh Paige, is that rolls I smell?" Cabe said.

Paige smiled, "Home made rolls, yes sir."

Cabe stepped up and hugged her, "Thank you."

"How can you possibly smell the rolls over the turkey?" Happy asked.

Cabe turned and hugged her, "The same way I know I'm hugging you and not Paige or Allie, I just know."

All three ladies laughed.

"Hey family," Walter said as he walked in the door.

"Toby," Ralph exclaimed and ran over and hugged him.

"Hey Ralph," Toby grinned and hugged him.

"Happy Thanksgiving Toby," Walter said. "I got your favorite." He held up a can of cranberry sauce.

Toby looked and grinned, "The good s-s-stuff, just don't let Cabe smack it." Toby laughed.

Walter looked at him puzzled, "He's talking about during my campaign for Alderman and Cabe slapped the can he was holding out of his hand." Sylvester told him.

Walter smiled, "Okay buddy, I'll keep him away from it then."

Toby just laughed.

Walter walked into the kitchen, "Cabe, you can't come near the can of cranberry sauce."

Cabe laughed, "Did Toby remember that?"

Walter nodded, "Said he didn't want me to let you smack it."

Walter hugged Happy, "Did Paige tell you about the new formula Ralph and I are working on?"

Paige turned around quickly and Happy looked up at Walter, "Nope, what formula?"

Walter looked at Paige, "Uh huh, I figured she would, you don't have to hide the fact."

Paige turned around and kissed his cheek, "Sorry, it just slipped out."

Walter hugged her, "its okay, I'm not mad."

"What's this?" Allie asked.

"Ralph and I have been researching a better way to help Toby's mind recover from the damage that Collins caused. We found a new chemical process that looks promising to not just replace bad neuro connections but actually rebuild the existing ones. If we can get permission to test it from the FDA it might even help those with Alzheimer's." Walter told them.

"Wow, what a blessing that would be for Toby, not to mention all those suffering from Alzheimer's." Allie said.

Happy grabbed Walter's hand and pulled him away from the kitchen, "I need you to tell me something Walt, please."

Walter nodded, "What's the problem?" He asked with concern on his face.

Happy looked around, "Three months ago Cabe got me in to see Collins. One of the last things he told me was that through that damn interface he actually made love to me for four nights before it burnt out. Was he telling me the truth?"

Walter stood looking at Happy for several long moments; finally he took in a deep breath. "No. I've gone over and over that device trying to use it to see if I could figure anything from it to help Toby. It simply wasn't big enough to allow for that much circuitry. The software to enable it to learn and adapt and to control what Toby did would have eaten all of that storage space. Plus all the damage to it was clearly from that night I used the stun gun to disable it."

Happy hugged him tightly, "Thank you, I wasn't sure I would ever be able to make love to Toby ever again if it was true. And I've been too scared to ask you but now, with Toby home, I had to know."

"Toby's home, when did this happen?" Walter asked.

"This past Monday," Happy told him.

"That's great news Happy." Walter smiled at her, "I'm so glad to hear it."

"Hey Scorpion," Richard Elia called from the front door as he entered with his daughter.

Walter walked out and greeted him and took the four bottles of wine he brought in with him. "Thank you for the invitation Walter." Richard told him. Walter just nodded his head towards the kitchen and they followed him over.

"Scorpion, soups on!" Cabe roared.

As they all sat around the table looking at all the food Paige had cooked Walter stood up with his glass. "I just wanted to take a moment to say a few things if no one objects." Walter looked around but everyone just smiled, "With this being our first Thanksgiving back as a family I wanted to say first how thankful I am that Toby is able to be here with us, it's really good seeing you here buddy. I'm thankful for all of you in my life, it wasn't all that long ago I didn't even dare hope that this would happen again. I'm so thankful for the continuing presence of Cabe in my life as a Dad. I'm grateful for Richard and his loving concern for me these past years. I'm so thankful for Ralph, for accepting me and looking at me as his Dad it's been such a blessing in my life."

"But most of all, I am so thankful of the day I had a phone call to fix a wireless router at a café. Even though the job was woefully beneath my skill level, with our desperate need of money I couldn't turn it down. I think it brought joy to Tom Sneedling to pass it off to me but the joke is on him. From that job I met the most amazing woman in the world. Loving, caring, intelligent, funny, compassionate, from that very first day, she stood up to my jerk side; she became the glue that bound this group of misfits together. Her quiet and loving personality has helped me to grow in ways I hope everyone sees every day. I don't ever want to spend even another hour away from you. Where I go, you have to come with me, where you go I have to go with you."

Paige sat there with tears in her eyes as she looked up at Walter, "All that said," Walter knelt down next to her and everyone gasped as Walter pulled a small box from his pocket and opened it revealing a very large diamond ring. "Paige, will you make me the happiest man to ever walk this Earth and marry me?"

Paige threw her arms around Walter's neck and cried into his shoulder. "I'm with you forever, married or not, of course I will marry you."

Everyone cheered.


End file.
